British Airways Archives – Page 47 of 72

BA Club World Catering: New York JFK – London Heathrow

A review of BA’s new Club World catering & bedding on New York JFK – London Heathrow.

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BA Club World Catering - New York JFK - London Heathrow Day flight — BA Club World Catering – New York JFK – London Heathrow Day flight (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

A week after our first review of BA’s new Club World catering and bedding on London Heathrow – Philadelphia, here’s our second take on the new catering service.

Why a second review?

Well, BA uses a different catering company, Do & Co, on New York JFK from all other long-haul routes.

This review is also conducted on one of a handful of transatlantic day flights from the US to London Heathrow. Whilst these flights do necessitate an early start and a short day is lost to flying, it is infinitely more pleasant and relaxed than a red eye.

There’s no rush to get the seat fully flat after take-off. Nor any need for the crew to have to navigate the sometimes visible tension between those passengers who want to maximise every moment for sleep and those who want to sit back and enjoy the service.

It should also be said this particular flight only operated out of sheer luck. On the day of this flight, this was the only BA flight to operate between New York and London. All other flights were cancelled due to severe weather on the US East Coast. Had this flight departed a mere one hour later it too could have been cancelled.
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BA’s new Club World catering & bedding reviewed

A review of BA’s new Club World catering & bedding on London Heathrow – Philadelphia.

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BA Club World Catering London Heathrow - Philadelphia — BA Club World Catering London Heathrow – Philadelphia (Image Credit: London Air Travel)

Is there a better way to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from London Heathrow than seated on the upper deck of a BA 747?

It may not be the most modern aircraft jostling for position on the taxiways at Heathrow before take-off. However, the 20 seat cabin has long been sought after for its private jet like experience where passengers sit oblivious to whatever is happening down below.

A flight from London Heathrow to Philadelphia, which is the subject of this review, marked a return to the upper deck after many flights with its younger upstarts the Boeing 787 and Airbus A380.

And what better way to sample BA’s new Club World service for the first time.

It made its debut on London Heathrow – New JFK in September 2017. Only very recently has it been extended to more routes, so London Heathrow to Philadelphia was the author’s first opportunity to try the new service.

Would it live up to the hype? Would BA be able to resist the temptation to pare back the service after launch? What about reports of the meal service taking 3 hours?
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10 Years of London Heathrow Terminal 5

As Heathrow prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Terminal 5 we look back at its opening in March 2008.

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London Heathrow Terminal 5 (Image Credit: Heathrow)

It was all meant to go swimmingly.

Her Majesty The Queen had officially opened London Heathrow Terminal 5 just short of two weeks before its planned opening on 27 March 2008. Hundreds of passengers had volunteered to take part in pre-opening trials. The airline was at pains to emphasise that it had learnt the lessons of teething problems at Denver and Madrid. The baggage system had been put through its paces for months.

BA promised its frequent flyers that the terminal would be “So calm, you’ll simply flow through.” Such was BA’s confidence in its promise of “no queuing” the terminal didn’t even have a dedicated business class check-in at launch. A TV ad featuring fish swimming through the terminal was ready to air.

BA was the exclusive tenant of Heathrow’s first new terminal in more than 20 years and as the home to almost all of its Heathrow flights it would transform its presence at the airport.

On opening day, the then BA CEO Willie Walsh was to greet passengers arriving on the first flight at Terminal 5 from Hong Kong and usher in a new era for the airline.

And then, it was chaos.
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BA Unveils Its “Densified” London Gatwick Boeing 777

British Airways has unveiled images of its refurbished Boeing 777-200 aircraft at London Gatwick, which will operate on all long-haul routes from the end of 2019.

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BA World Traveller cabin on LGW based Boeing 777 aircraft (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways has today, Monday 5 March 2018, unveiled images of its refurbished Boeing 777-200 aircraft which will operate on all long-haul routes at London Gatwick from the end of 2019.

BA took delivery of its first refurbished aircraft last week. It features an entirely new World Traveller and World Traveller Plus cabin. The first routes to operate the new cabin are Punta Cana, Cancun and Kingston. Please see here for full details of the expected routes for 2019.

When BA first announced the plan to densify its Boeing 777 fleet it said that 12 aircraft would be refurbished. BA has said today that 6 aircraft will be refurbished by the end of October 2018. The refurbishment will continue in 2019.

BA to launch unbundled long-haul economy fares

British Airways and its partners American Airlines, Finnair and Iberia are to launch an unbundled long-haul economy fare with no checked luggage allowance from April 2018.

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BA World Traveller Cabin, Boeing 777-300 aircraft (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to launch a new “unbundled” long-haul economy fare on selected routes from April 2018.

Following the growth of Norwegian at London Gatwick, there has long been speculation and suggestions by BA’s CEO Alex Cruz that BA would launch an unbundled long-haul economy fare.

BA’s fellow International Airlines Group (“IAG”) subsidiary Aer Lingus also launched a new unbundled transatlantic saver fare last year.

BA has not yet confirmed the exact routes on which the new fare will be available and from which dates. And BA has yet to make an official PR announcement, which will require some delicate positioning. Although the “BA scraps free checked luggage” headlines will be inevitable.
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Changes affecting children flying alone on BA

British Airways has introduced important policy changes affecting all children flying alone from Tuesday 1 May 2018.

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British Airways has introduced two important policy changes regarding children flying alone on the airline which apply from Tuesday 1 May 2018.

1. Minimum age for unaccompanied children

BA has, with effect from Tuesday 1 May 2018, increased the minimum age at which a child is allowed to fly alone from 12 to 14 years.

No bookings for children under 14 years flying alone can be made after Tuesday 1 May 2018. Bookings can continue to be made before this date and will be honoured.

BA withdrew its “Skyflyer Solo” service which provided a chaperone for unaccompanied minors on 31 January 2017.

2. New procedures affecting all unaccompanied children under the age of 16

In addition, all children under 16 and travelling alone from Tuesday 1 May 2018 must have a completed parental/guardian consent form prior to travel. This change applies regardless of when the booking was made.

The form will be available on ba.com from early April 2018. Parents/guardians will need to download, print and complete the form prior to travel. Unaccompanied children must ensure they bring the form with them and carry it at all times.

Based on guidance provided by BA to the travel trade, this change is driven by BA requiring a consent form in order to provide children with assistance during unexpected disruption, such as the diversion of an aircraft or cancellation of a flight.

There’s more guidance on children flying alone on ba.com

Update April 2018: The form referred to above is now available on ba.com

BA Airbus A380 flights from London Heathrow in 2018

Where will BA’s fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft fly to in 2019? Here’s our guide to when the Airbus 380 will fly to Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Singapore and Vancouver.

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BA Airbus A380 (Image Credit: British Airways)

BA’s fleet of 12 Airbus A380 aircraft is a minnow compared to Emirates’ fleet of 101 aircraft.

They may also not have the on board bars and showers of Emirates. However, BA is the only operator of the Airbus A380 direct from London across to North America. It is by far the best aircraft to fly across the Atlantic, compared to the quartet of Boeing 747, 767, 777, and 787 widebodies that ply across the Atlantic daily.

So here’s our guide to where you can fly the BA Airbus A380 throughout 2018 and into early 2019.

Please note that schedules are subject to change due to operational requirements. Aircraft can also be substituted at very short notice due to unexpected maintenance requirements. Flights are now on sale at ba.com

Update January 2019: An updated guide for 2019 has now been published.

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BA adds new Club World catering to more routes

From Thursday 1 February 2018, BA is to extend its new Club World catering to Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York Newark, Philadelphia, Washington Dulles, Montreal, Toronto, Dubai and Hong Kong.

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New Club World Catering (Image Credit: British Airways)

British Airways is to add its new Club World catering to an additional 10 routes from London Heathrow from Thursday 1 February 2018.

The new catering involves radical changes to the presentation of meals, with starters and desserts chosen from a cart in the aisle. Currently, the new catering is only available on London Heathrow – New York JFK, where it debuted last September.

By region, the new routes are:

North America

Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York Newark, Philadelphia, Washington Dulles, Montreal and Toronto.

Middle East

Dubai

Asia

Hong Kong

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Aer Lingus to operate BA flights to Dublin and Hamburg

Aer Lingus is to operate selected British Airways flights between London Heathrow Terminal 5 and Dublin and Hamburg. However, Aer Lingus will offer an economy-only service on this route, with no business class cabin.

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Aer Lingus Airbus A320 (By BriYYZ via Wikimedia Commons)

As we reported earlier this month, BA has recently acquired a portfolio of slots at London Gatwick from the airline Monarch which suspended operations late last year. As BA is required to make use of the slots to avoid forfeiting them, its fleet of Airbus short-haul aircraft is going to quite stretched over the coming months as it scrambles to fill the slots.

A consequence of this is that BA has called on Aer Lingus, which is a fellow subsidiary of BA’s parent company International Airlines Group, to operate selected flights between London Heathrow Terminal 5 and Dublin and Hamburg from early Feburary 2018.

At the outset, we should mention that this should not be confused with BA’s existing codeshare arrangement with Aer Lingus. BA has long codeshared on Aer Lingus operated flights from London Heathrow Terminal 2 to Dublin. These flights have the numbers BA59**.

BA flights between London Heathrow Terminal 5 and Dublin to be operated by Aer Lingus

BA0824 London Heathrow – Dublin
BA0826 London Heathrow – Dublin
BA0828 London Heathrow – Dublin (certain days only)

BA0827 Dublin – London Heathrow
BA0831 Dublin – London Heathrow
BA0833 Dublin – London Heathrow (certain days only)

This typically represents two of up to eight daily return BA flights between London Heathrow and Dublin.

BA flights between London Heathrow Terminal 5 and Hamburg to be operated by Aer Lingus

BA0962 London Heathrow – Hamburg
BA0969 Hamburg – London Heathrow

This represents one of up to five daily return BA flights between London Heathrow and Hamburg.
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BA upgrades World Traveller economy catering

British Airways is to introduce improvements to World Traveller economy catering on all long-haul flights to and from London Gatwick and Heathrow from Wednesday 17 January 2018.

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BA World Traveller Catering January 2018

As was announced at the annual IAG Capital Markets Day last year, BA is to introduce improvements to catering on all World Traveller economy flights from Wednesday 17 January 2018.

In truth, much of what has been announced is a reinstatement (once again in some cases…) of items that have previously been cut.

The basic structure of the World Traveller meal service remains the same: Drinks from the bar shortly after take-off; a full meal service, and then a second meal and bar service around 90 minutes before landing.

The service in World Traveller Plus is broadly the same with the addition of pre-take off drinks and a main course from the Club World menu.

Additions to World Traveller Catering from 17 January 2018:

– BA will reinstate pretzels with the first bar service.

– The World Traveller meal tray will include a small bottle of water (rather than a cuplet) and the tray will include cheese and biscuits.

– BA will offer ice creams on day flights from London and will reinstate “tuck boxes” of snacks in the galley on overnight flights.

– Graze snack boxes will be offered on longer-range flights in excess of 10 hours (see list below).

– The second meal/snack service will be improved. Last year, there was considerable, and justified, criticism after BA cut the second meal service on flights of less than eight hours to a small chocolate bar / biscuit (see the offending item below from a flight in World Traveller Plus last year). BA will reinstate the provision of a sandwich on relatively short long-haul flights such as New York.

– A second hot meal will be offered on longer range day & night flights.

– BA will continue to tailor menus to regions, particularly Asia and the Middle East, and offer all passengers the option of pre-ordering a special meal.
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